Smoke em if ya got em

[tripod]

Well I roll my own and smoke Golden Virginia I go to Belgium once an year and get it for a third of the price. My old headmaster used to smoke the stuff in his pipe. I can see the staff now, all puffing away at morning assembly.

[Boyd FD]

Majority of what I smoke are Aros. Frog Morton, Sutliff Black Cordial(My inside smoke, wife allows this one), McClellan Tastemaster, Black shag. I have a few heavy latakia blends that I smoke often as well. All depends on where I am and the mood I'm in.

[Tenmiles]

The title of the thread brought to mind a story my father told me once, about an experience during his stint in the Marines.
He'd "left home" (run away) at 17 to join, and lied about his age to get in. I suppose this would have in '58 or so.

Anyway, he explained that there was a convention where the men could only smoke at designated times, announced by the commanding officer.
The CO would declare that "The smoking lamp was lit" and the men could use the time to smoke 'em if they had 'em.
At times, a limiting condition was stated, such as "the smoking lamp is lit, for one cigarette only" so that the men knew they were not being given broad time for leisure, but just a quick smoke break.

(My dad went on to explain the origin of the phrase, but also noted that it was essentially an anachronism in his time, as all the men had their own Zippos; no need to light one's smoke off the communal 'lamp').

To make a long (and now foggy) story short, the point was that he recalled one night after everyone had already retired, the CO called every man out to the yard, to stand at attention, and declared thusly: "The smoking lamp is lit! For one cigarette only.... which I shall smoke", which he then proceeded to do, while the men had to stand in ranks - in their skivvies - and silently watch, before being dismissed.

Though I'm sure this tale had some measure of influence on my impression of life in the military, and left me with many questions about the psychology of leadership, I never did enlist myself.
But as for smoking, that was something I did adopt with dark enthusiasm as a teenager. (long story, not worth telling)

I'd been a cigarette smoker for about twenty years, but stopped once and for all about three and a half years ago. Simply tired of smelling like an ashtray all the time. My wife and I quit together.

When I worked with the Forest Service, I carried a cheap corn-cob pipe in my pack, and when we were working in the backcountry, and I ran out of tobacco, I'd stuff it with all sorts of relatively innocuous local vegetation; everything from sage or mugwort leaves to dry oak leaves, just for something to puff on in camp (with varying degrees of success and satisfaction).

Even though I've given up cigarettes, I confess that I have to still consider myself a smoker at heart, and at some point, I expect I shall acquire a worthwhile pipe and begin occasionally appreciating some nicer tobaccos (to be honest, there are really no redeeming qualities to cigarette tobacco); so I am finding this conversation to be elucidating.

[SDNTN]

Seasonal smoker of cob pipes and generic hardwoods. No briars for this man yet. I usually smoke Captain Black in the blue package, sometimes mixed with Prince Albert.

[BadenochWolf]

The title of the thread brought to mind a story my father told me once, about an experience during his stint in the Marines.
He'd "left home" (run away) at 17 to join, and lied about his age to get in. I suppose this would have in '58 or so.

Anyway, he explained that there was a convention where the men could only smoke at designated times, announced by the commanding officer.
The CO would declare that "The smoking lamp was lit" and the men could use the time to smoke 'em if they had 'em.
At times, a limiting condition was stated, such as "the smoking lamp is lit, for one cigarette only" so that the men knew they were not being given broad time for leisure, but just a quick smoke break.

(My dad went on to explain the origin of the phrase, but also noted that it was essentially an anachronism in his time, as all the men had their own Zippos; no need to light one's smoke off the communal 'lamp').

To make a long (and now foggy) story short, the point was that he recalled one night after everyone had already retired, the CO called every man out to the yard, to stand at attention, and declared thusly: "The smoking lamp is lit! For one cigarette only.... which I shall smoke", which he then proceeded to do, while the men had to stand in ranks - in their skivvies - and silently watch, before being dismissed.

Though I'm sure this tale had some measure of influence on my impression of life in the military, and left me with many questions about the psychology of leadership, I never did enlist myself.
But as for smoking, that was something I did adopt with dark enthusiasm as a teenager. (long story, not worth telling)

I'd been a cigarette smoker for about twenty years, but stopped once and for all about three and a half years ago. Simply tired of smelling like an ashtray all the time. My wife and I quit together.

When I worked with the Forest Service, I carried a cheap corn-cob pipe in my pack, and when we were working in the backcountry, and I ran out of tobacco, I'd stuff it with all sorts of relatively innocuous local vegetation; everything from sage or mugwort leaves to dry oak leaves, just for something to puff on in camp (with varying degrees of success and satisfaction).

Even though I've given up cigarettes, I confess that I have to still consider myself a smoker at heart, and at some point, I expect I shall acquire a worthwhile pipe and begin occasionally appreciating some nicer tobaccos (to be honest, there are really no redeeming qualities to cigarette tobacco); so I am finding this conversation to be elucidating.

Oh Lord. I had some TERRIBLY unfit leaders in the Army, but nothing rises to the level of sheer arrogance and stupidity evinced by the CO in your father's story. Perhaps all concerned simply got away with more in the drafted military. I can see, perhaps, a misguided platoon sergeant doing something of the kind. But never an officer, and certainly not a captain/major who are usually company commanders. When I was at my military skill school (the next stop after Basic Training), a drill sergeant who had drawn CQ over a weekend called everyone in our training battalion out into formation at 3 am because he found a pack of cigarettes on the roof of our barracks. You're not allowed to smoke during this training; also, in military parlance "smoke" can also mean "cause to do exercise to the point of exhaustion/sickness." He strode among us all saying "if you want to smoke, I'll smoke ALL of you till someone comes forward!" We were out in full battle gear doing grass drills until the sun came up and THEN some. Everyone was calling for the head of whoever owned the pack of smokes, but nobody came forward. As it turned out, the cigarettes belonged to a contractor who had been working on the HVAC system. He came back for them a few days later because the zippo in the pack had sentimental value. I only know that because I got stuck as the staff duty orderly that day. No chance that drill sergeant was going to apologize to us. All we heard was that the culprit "had been found and dealt with appropriately." All this is to say, the military is a WEIRD place, but usually it makes a bit more sense than the bald facts of your dad's story.

[BadenochWolf]

In the days when I used to smoke a pipe, "Erinmore" was my choice. I am not sure if it is still available, but I keep some of my fishing flies in some of the old tins and the wiff of that wonderful tobacco still catches my nostrils when opening up the tin, even after all this time.

Erinmore is definitely still available in both flake and mixture (ribbon cut). I had a pipe of the flake tonight. Interesting flavor; different from most of the VA/burley flake I've had, but VERY good.

[Jordan]

I'm a pipe smoker, have been for a few years now.

I've got quite a varied taste in tobacco, smoking anything from heavy aromatics to Carter Hall (when I can get it over here!) I'm not a massive fan of English blends but I like the occasional bowl.

As for pipes my collection is varied there also, I do like Corn Cobs though.

[Tenmiles]

BadenochWolf, my retelling of the story which I heard when I was perhaps twelve should be taken with a grain of salt. My knowledge, and use, of terminology is probably deeply flawed. Where I said "CO", it very well might have been a drill sergeant or something; I just meant to convey, through my weak recollection, that it was the bloke in charge at the moment. To everyone who's actually served, please do not take my ignorance of the finer points as disrespect.

[BadenochWolf]

@Tenmiles, I'm really and truly sorry if anything I said sounded either offended or offensive. No disrespect was intended. I was genuinely interested in your father's story. I've spent most of my adult life either in the military, or dealing primarily with other veterans; sometimes I forget that service jargon is bewildering to others, and that linguistic imprecision isn't a mortal sin. Please accept my apologies for being entirely too much of a stickler.

You were correct in your guess as to where the thread title came from. I meant to congratulate you on that, rather than harangue you for some a minor detail lost in the re-telling. In the old days of road marches and symmetrical warfare, this would often be the call during rest stops. Although smoking in the field is now very passé, these phrases survive as a way of announcing a break from whatever task to which one's unit has been set. Again, my apologies for being utterly obtuse.

[Tenmiles]

No sweat! I simply realized that my own attempt to get some of the jargon right may have been far from the mark. Any fault in the (re)telling of the story should be understood as mine alone, and I just wanted to make it clear that no disrespect was meant on my part either. If you're cool then I'm cool.